The Paladin in the Abyss-Chapter 301 - 305 Bridge

Chapter 301: Chapter 305 Bridge

“Wait a moment,”

the Martial Monk said to everyone. Lancelot widened his eyes curiously, eager to see how the scout across the river would respond to them, especially at such a great distance. However, the Human Knight couldn’t make out any signs, even with his vision enhanced by True Yuan; he detected nothing unusual.

He looked at Hobinson, puzzled, only to find the other man lounging against a nearby stone wall. Lancelot was baffled; he was quite certain that the Martial Monk couldn’t possibly possess better vision than his, nor did he feel any magical effects in play on the other man.

Lancelot realized he might have completely misunderstood the situation, as the Martial Monk didn’t seem to be focusing on anything outside at all. After waiting for about five minutes, Hobinson turned the winch again, allowing the beam of light to sweep slowly across the dark riverbank. This time, the Martial Monk was visibly more concentrated, carefully observing the places swept by the light.

Following his gaze, Lancelot also surveyed the opposite bank. At last, he noticed that when the light swept past a certain patch of grass, there was a distinct reflection, as if someone had placed a mirror or something similar there.

From the Martial Monk’s expression, that was evidently the expected response. However, his hands didn’t stop their motion; he controlled the light beam to complete its sweep across the entire riverside at the original pace.

Afterwards, the Martial Monk repeated the process. This time, when the light beam swept over the spot that had flashed before, the reflection was gone. Clearly, whatever had caused the reflection had been removed.

Lancelot couldn’t help but inwardly admire the ingenious design. Although everyone could see the signals from the lighthouse, it would be difficult for enemies to understand the meaning of the beams—whether they moved fast or slow, high or low. The scouts only needed to place some mirrors in the spots where the light beam passed, according to a prearranged method, to send back sufficient intelligence without worrying about revealing their position.

“We are in luck tonight; there are no enemies within five miles.” The lean Martial Monk spoke before turning to walk in another direction, “Follow me, I’ll take you across the river.”

“Uh, the exit is this way,” Bruto reminded him; the Martial Monk was walking towards a gap in the watchtower, where there was a small platform extending outward, seemingly the remnant of a stone bridge that had collapsed at some point.

“But the way over the river is this way,” Hobinson said with a smile, then stepped out through the gap.

To everyone’s amazement, the Martial Monk stood steadily in midair, his feet planted as if on solid ground, though there appeared to be nothing there.

Lancelot was startled and took a moment to sense the flow of nature’s spiritual energy around him. Only then did he realize that there was indeed something beneath Hobinson’s feet—not empty space, but a transparent platform extending outward from the gap to a distant point.

“This is the handiwork of Elf Mages, allowing stone and wood to become permanently transparent,” Acheron laughed, explaining to everyone, “A very useful spell, isn’t it? Some Elf Kingdoms use this technique to make Outsiders wander in circles within the forest, never finding the legendary Elf City.”

“Wow, that’s really magical!” Koula, a Halfling full of adventurous spirit, was the first to follow. She carefully lay down on the invisible surface, feeling around with her hands to confirm the edges of the invisible pathway.

“This pathway is ten feet wide; just follow my footsteps, and you’ll definitely not fall off,”

the Martial Monk assured the group. Then he brought his palms together, briefly changing the direction of the wind around him. When he walked forward once more, the air that his feet touched shimmered with glimmering footprints, giving those following him clear points of reference.

“No one’s afraid of heights, right?” Acheron teased the group with a wink before stepping forward.

After him came Elothysia; being a winged creature, she naturally had nothing to fear. Kalalin and Alamir followed, still feeling some instinctive fear, but with people in front and behind, it wasn’t too hard to keep moving forward.

Even little Ysa was let out by Lancelot, for such an interesting event, it would be unthinkable not to include her; the young girl would surely pout at him later on.

Ultimately, only Lancelot and Bruto remained, perhaps counting the skull hanging on the sword hilt as well. The two stared at each other, eye to eye as if they had grown roots at their feet.

“Shall we go?” the Human Knight suggested.

“Big brother… if I fall, can you hold me?”

“I’m afraid not.” Lancelot sized up Bruto’s spiky armor, “Where on your body is there a spot for me to grasp?”

“Here, take this.” Bruto pulled a bundle of rope from the small bag he carried and handed one end to Lancelot, tying the other around his waist. It was a rope Dwarves used underground to hoist huge stones, strong enough to bear several times Bruto’s weight.

“Er, don’t you think this is a bit like…”

“It won’t be if you walk in front,” Bruto said with a straight face.

Lancelot shrugged his shoulders and stepped onto the transparent stone bridge. He intentionally walked very slowly, allowing his Dwarf companion, who was used to having his feet on solid ground, time to suppress the instinctive screams in his mind and slowly shift his center of gravity onto the foot that was stepping into the air.

“This is too hard…” complained the Dwarf from behind, “Lancelot, you pull me instead…”

“You’ve made it up here, won’t you try a bit harder?”

“I’ll definitely give it a try when we have the chance, but let’s not waste time now.” Bruto surrendered to his fate, “I’ve closed my eyes already, walk faster.”

Sometimes reality is so delicately ironic; people often walk faster with their eyes closed than with them open.

This invisible pathway was even longer than they had imagined; after crossing the Hoffenstan River, they walked almost half a mile more before their feet once again touched solid ground.

“And so, farewell, my friends.” The Martial Monk bowed with his hands together in salute once more, “I wish you all smooth sailing.”

“Thanks a lot, old pal.” Acheron gave the Martial Monk a warm embrace, “I really wish you could come with us, just like old times…”

“Sometimes I really wonder how you got that General title.” The Martial Monk shook his head, looking at Lancelot and the others, “I bet he told you all sorts of reasons for coming here, but believe me, they were all made up. He’s just longing for adventure and doesn’t want to miss any opportunities.”

“Have you been drinking tonight, spouting such nonsense?” the Elf said with a laugh, giving the Human Martial Monk a push and turning to address everyone, “Let’s not waste words with this guy, let’s move out!”

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